1983) The original Heaven 17
video, directed by Steve
Barron (who also directed
Michael Jackson's 'Billie
Jean' that same year) featured
the band dressed in black, in
drab, grey surroundings in a
style of German expressionism
and had segments of (what
looks like) an abstract office
interview of some kind between
vocalists Gle
more

1983) The original Heaven 17
video, directed by Steve
Barron (who also directed
Michael Jackson's 'Billie
Jean' that same year) featured
the band dressed in black, in
drab, grey surroundings in a
style of German expressionism
and had segments of (what
looks like) an abstract office
interview of some kind between
vocalists Glenn Gregory and
Carol Kenyon interspersed
throughout.
______________________________
___________
Taking their name from the
Anthony Burgess novel A
Clockwork Orange, the U.K.
techno-pop trio Heaven 17 grew
out of the experimental dance
project the British Electric
Foundation, itself an offshoot
of the electro-pop outfit
Human League. The core of
Heaven 17 was comprised of
Martyn Ware and Ian Craig
Marsh, a pair of onetime
computer operators who first
teamed in 1977 as the Dead
Daughters, a duo which
integrated synthesizer
patterns with a heavy reliance
on tape loops. Soon, Ware and
Marsh were joined by Philip
Oakey and Adi Newton and
changed their name to the
Human League, where they
remained before exiting
together in 1980.
As a means of establishing the
synthesizer as an expressive,
human instrument, Marsh and
Ware formed the British
Electric Foundation, a
production project which
employed a variety of
musicians and singers
including Tina Turner, Sandie
Shaw, and Gary Glitter. The
B.E.F.'s debut, 1980's Music
of Quality and Distinction,
Vol. 1, also included vocalist
Glenn Gregory, a former
photographer whom Ware and
Marsh met at a Sheffield drama
center; in 1981, the duo
enlisted Gregory for Heaven
17, the first and most
successful B.E.F. alter ego,
and debuted with the single
'(We Don't Need This) Fascist
Groove Thang,' a minor hit
banned by the BBC over its
title. An album, Penthouse and
Pavement, followed the same
year.
By the release of 1983's The
Luxury Gap, the B.E.F. had
fallen by the wayside, and
Heaven 17 had become Ware and
Marsh's primary focus; the LP
proved highly successful,
spawning the hit singles
'Temptation,' 'Come Live With
Me,' 'Crushed by the Wheels of
Industry,' and 'Let Me Go.'
The follow-up, How Men Are,
was another British hit, but
the group receded from view
after its release; when they
returned in 1986 with the
album Pleasure One, it was
with a number of guest
musicians and vocalists.
After the commerical failure
of 1988's Teddy Bear, Duke &
Psycho, Heaven 17 officially
disbanded; Ware focused on
production chores and worked
on Terence Trent D'Arby's
debut Introducing the Hardline
According to Terence Trent
D'Arby. In 1990, he and Marsh
resurrected the B.E.F. aegis,
releasing Music of Quality and
Distinction, Vol. 2 the
following year. In 1996, a
reformed Heaven 17 returned
with Bigger Than America. ~
Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Category Music

Tags Heaven, 17, Temptation, classic, video, videoclips, videomusic, clip, music, musica, song, retro, 80, 80s